Question

What is the point of the comparison Emerson makes between the kernel of corn and human effort?

Answer 1

What is the point of the comparison Emerson makes between the kernel of corn and human effort?

The point is the kernel of nourishing corn is reward. Any reward is anything worth having.

Answer 2

a.

You must work hard to grow corn just as you must work hard to achieve your potential.
b.

People cannot survive without food, so we must all work very hard.
c.

As corn grows slowly, so it takes a long time for people to realize their potential.
d.

A kernel of corn is small and hard to see. In a similar way, our potential is often hidden and hard to see.